Month: January 2017

This week´s book was the haunting, beautiful and moving Holocaust memoirs of Marceline Loridan-Ivens. The book is also a love letter to her Loridan-Ivens´ father who she lost in the concentration camp at the age of 16.

76,500 Jews were sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau in the 1940s, only 2,500 came back and 160 of them are still alive. Loridan-Ivens is one of them. This book tells the story of her unlikely survival.

‘She already looked like her limp, lifeless doll’

What it is about:

It is about the life of a French Jew who survived the holocaust in Auschwitz.

Why it matters:

Reminding us on the biggest atrocity in human history is extremely important. Getting a first-hand and unvarnished account of the inhuman events in those days even more so. The author of this book was mentally so damaged that she tried to commit suicide twice after the war. Two of her three siblings were less lucky and eventually took their own lives: they were “sick from the camps without ever having been there”.

Notable Sentences:

“From my cell block, I could see the children walking to the gas chambers. I remember one little girl clinging to her doll. She looked lost, staring in space. Behind her were probably months of terror and being hunted. They´d just separated her from her parents, soon they´d tear off her clothes. She already looked like her limp, lifeless doll.“

‘An unwavingerly honest testimony’

Storytelling elements:

The memoirs are directly addressed to Loridan-Ivens´ dead father, which make the book even more intimate and personal. The father somehow managed to smuggle a letter to her while they were detained in neighbouring camps in 1944. Loridan-Ivens cannot remember the content of the letter, which haunted her for her entire life. This book is Loridan-Ivens poetic response to her father´s letter; it took her 60 years to respond. Also the book jumps back and forth in time and covers over 70 years of her life and even touches on some post-modern events like the student revolt in China and 9/11.

Some trivia:

Loridan-Ivens married the dutch film-maker Joris Ivens in the early 1960s and together they made some acclaimed frontline documentaries about the Vietnam war.

What others said:

„Very occasionally a book comes along that demands to be published, to be read, to be talked about. A book about pain and suffering, about cruelty and humanity, about grief and love. But You Did Not Come Back is an exquisitely written, beautifully translated and unwaveringly honest testimony; a story we will all do well never to forget.”

– Hannah Beckerman, The Guardian –

Thanks, Hannah.

Very moving read indeed and very recommendable. I will now watch some of Loridan-Ivens documentares.

I recently stumbled over a very interesting story that involves the prominent neurologist Dr. Antonio Damasio from the USC and his patient Elliot.

Elliott had lost a very small portion of his prefrontal cortices during a surgery for a brain tumor. Before his illness, Elliott held a high-level corporate job and had a happy, thriving family. After the surgery he lost everything.

The interesting bit is that on a rational level everything was still fine with him: Elliot still scored in the 98th percentile in IQ, he had a high-functioning memory, and had no problem analysing and quantifying every possible solution to a problem. On a superficial level, we would think that he is very capable to be a good businessman.

Decision making process is driven by emotions

What was his real issue? One crucial thing he couldn´t do anymore is: taking decisions. Not even what colour pen to use or how to get his tasks in order.

Why? Because the damage to his brain left him unable to experience emotion. But wouldn´t that be a good thing in a hard-boiled business environment!? Intuitively we would think that Elliot would be free to make rational decisions, right?!

But the real problem was that without emotions Elliott had no way to gauge what mattered and what didn´t.

This case and further studies from neurologists such as Dr. Antonio Damasio have indicated that decision-making, once thought to be an activity of the logical, rational brain, is actually a process driven largely by our instincts and emotions.

People don´t need facts – they need meaning

And this is where stories kick in.

I worked in M&A for a couple of years and have seen identical assets being sold for completely different prices. The sellers who achieved the significantly higher prices for the same assets simply had the better stories to tell.

People are not price sensitive if they really want to have something. Think about it; this is basically the core of good branding. Evoking emotions make people pay a premium for, well, ‘premium’ brands; even if their products might be on a purely rational/technical level identical to other competing brands´ products (or even inferior).

So next time you want to influence decision-makers, don´t just show them the numbers –engage their emotions! Storytelling is one of the simplest, quickest and most effective ways to create emotions in your listener.

People do not need more facts – they need meaning. Story helps provide meaning, shape and relationship to the data.

When I worked in movies, I often had writers moaning that their work can be so solitude and depressing at times. Also they were haunted by this thing called “writer´s block” and had nobody they could discuss new ideas with.

However, when I suggested to bring in a co-author they heavily rejected as it never worked out for them. Never. Mainly due to “creative differences”; this basically means that one author kept on deleting the other author´s favorite bits and vice versa.

For that reason I came up with a little step-by-step methodology that helps two authors writing on the same project without interfering with each other´s work too much.

Separate creating from analyzing … !

And here it is:

Assumptions

People die in analysis. This methodology separates creation steps from analysis and allows to write a first draft in a relative short time frame.

My strong belief is: When you write, you write. When you edit, you edit. Those should be completely separate tasks.

If you edit and criticise your own work while you´re writing, chances are that you deprive yourself from the most unusual and best ideas. There is constantly this little critic sitting on your shoulder and wants you to cut the bad bits.

But remember Hemingway´s words: ‘the first draft is always bad’. It is your job is to get something on the page in the first place. Anything. Then at least you have some content to work on. (A lot of aspiring writers fail at that stage as they are too afraid to make mistakes and rather don´t do anything)

(Please note that this methodology was designed for screenwriters. However, it can be arguably used for any kind of writing project. Fiction or Non-Fiction.)

Cut means cut

Rules (yes, they are necessary)

No commenting, criticizing or analyzing of the other author´s writing efforts in creation times in any shape or form. There are dedicated analysis slots where you can discuss and analyze the work.

If a story-element gets cut by any author, it is out for good with no discussions and cannot be re-introduced. (This is the most important bit. If you don´t follow it, one author will be deleting the other author´s darlings, and the other author will re-introduce them and then the other author will cut them again and so and so on. An infinite vicious circle)

Time

No time limit or goals; though the process should be quick to not lose momentum. Ideally don´t leave more than a week in-between steps.

Groundwork

STEPS

Groundwork: This is the step when the two writers sit together and decide on some basics. For simplicity reasons I call them writer A and B from now on.

Writers A and B agree on:

a premise (a simple “what if”-question that reflects the story they do want to write about; e.g. the premise of Jaws: What if a big white shark attacks a beach resort? Simple)

a genre (could be a mixed genre like SciFi-Comedy)

a controlling idea (the message; what do you want to express with your story?)

a setting (could be multiple settings, e.g. a road movie)

the tone of voice (that´s an important one; if the two writers write with different tones it will be hard to get the story together)

main characters (ideally aim for 1-3 main and 4-5 side characters for the start)

Step-by-Step development

Ok, now that the groundwork is done, the writers start working separately and hand over their work after each step.

Step I – Creation: Writer A writes an expose (2-3 pages) based on the agreed groundwork and hands it over to B

After I started the year with two classics by Tolstoy and Conrad, I decided to read a modern piece by a newcomer next: ‘Grief is the thing with feathers’ by Max Porter. A very friendly Swedish bookseller in Hammersmith recommended me this book and I was not disappointed at all. (I told her about my book challenge and that I need books for people who don´t have time to read.)

Anyway, ‘Grief is the thing with feathers was a very moving and interesting read as it comes a long with an interesting storyline, a very relatable core theme and interesting narrative elements I have not come across yet. Also chapeau to whoever designed the layout and the book cover; very appealing and they reflect the theme and mood of this book perfectly.

“Grief is a long-term project”

What it is about:

It is about a father of two who is trying to cope with the unexpected death of his wife.

Why it matters:

The book touches on very universal themes: deep loving, the perks of single-parenthood, how to overcome grief and there are also hints at coming-of age subjects. The structure and narrative elements are very interesting and added something new to my reading experience. (see storytelling elements). Oh, and for the award-obsessed readers among you; this book has a nice award record: Winner of the Dylan Thomas Prize 2016;Shortlisted for The Goldsmiths Prize 2015; Shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award 2015 and others.

Favourite Sentences:

“Moving on, as a concept, is for stupid people, because any sensible person knows grief is a long-term project. I refuse to rush. The pain that is thrust upon us let no man slow or speed or fix.”

“An excellent ear for the flexibility of language and tone”

Storytelling elements:

The story works in a conventional 3-act structure. The third act and resolution are maybe a bit too convenient. However, what makes the read really interesting are its narrative elements: the story is told from three different perspectives: the father´s, the sons´ and the crow. Every single one of the narrating characters has its own distinct tone-of-voice and progresses quite significantly over the course of the story. The author jumps back and forth in time and also uses stylistic elements such as metaphors and poetry to move the story forward.

Some trivia:

The author seems to be an admirer of the English poet Ted Hughes; the protagonist of the book has a memorable fan encounter with Ted. In real life Ted Hughes had two children with Sylvia Plath who committed suicide, which left Ted as a widower and single parent of two. Art imitates life.

What others said:

„Porter has an excellent ear for the flexibility of language and tone, juxtaposing colloquialisms against poetic images and metaphors. The result is a book that has the living, breathing quality of the title’s “thing with feathers.”

– Katie Kitamura, New York Times –

Thanks, Katie.

Very good read indeed. Oh, and for the people who think they don´t have time to read: It took me only two hours to read so you can read it, too.

From time to time I touch on stories that people in general and managers in particular should know about themselves.

The first and most important one is the ‘This is who I am’-story that tells about your background and the way you got to where you are right now.

Why is it so important?

Well, for a starter it is totally unique, it is yours. Nobody else on this planet shares this story; not even your identical twin.

Even more so our ‘backstory’ is also one of our greatest assets in building credibility and trust. Telling our personal life in story form with all its ups and downs is way more influential than just saying who we are now. Hearing something personal about you and your life builds trust.

Think about it. A lot of challenges in business (and life) are about influencing others and convincing others to do something you like them to do.

And what do you need before you can influence somebody? Yes, trust! Unfortunately a lot of bad leaders skip the trust step when trying to influence.

But would you buy something from somebody you don´t trust? Highly unlikely.

Trust comes before influence

People hate nothing more than vanity but they like people who show humility and admit to their flaws and shortcomings. They like to hear something personal about you. That builds trust. So tell them something unique about your upbringing, be open, admit to your flaws. People will appreciate that.

Barack who?

Want a real life example?

Let´s wind back 13 years to see how somebody very prominently and successfully told his very own ‘This is who I am’ story: Barack Obama.

‘Barack who?’ …you would have asked in early 2004; but after July 26th 2004 basically the whole of the USA knew who Barack Obama was. On that day Obama delivered the keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, seen by 9.1 million viewers.

Obama gave an exhilarating speech about his challenging upbringing; about his parents who had a multi-racial marriage in shaky times, his father leaving his mum when he was a toddler. His father only visted him once in 1971 and died in an automobile accident in 1982. His mother died in 1995 from cancer. So Obama was an orphan at the age of 34.

But he never gave up. He went on to study at the prestigious Harvard Law School and University and worked as an associate in a law firm and a lecturer and later on joined the democratic party.

That´s the story he told . Very personal, full of ups and downs and flaws; just as his life was.

Obama told his very own backstory

Obama could have told several other stories that night; about the slowing economy, the shortcomings of the Republicans and President Bush or whatever politicians love to talk about. But he decided to tell a very personal story about himself. His very own ‘This is who I am’ story’

And successful it was.

Many analysts still regard this particular keynote as the speech that later made him president. It is basically an early predecessor of his `Yes, we can’ movement that won him the presidency.

Immediately after the speech MSNBC host Chris Matthews admitted, “I have to tell you, a little chill in my legs right now. That is an amazing moment in history right there. It is surely an amazing moment. A keynoter like I have never heard.” He added later in the night, “…I have seen the first black president there.”

We now know that Chris was right.

So go out and tell your very own ‘This is who I am’ story. Keep it fresh. Don´t hide your flaws and shortcomings. They are part of who you are.

Week 2 of my personal 2017-52-book-challenge. I read a book which was always high up on my list: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad which was inspired by Conrad’s own journey to Congo in 1890.

I always wanted to read this book as it is the basis of the best war movie ever made: Apocalypse Now. Francis Ford Coppola adapted the book but transposed the action to 1960s Vietnam.

Like the movie, the book is a challenging and psychedelic trip. It is poetic and cruel at the same time; a road trip without a road and overall an unsettling experience. The deeper the protagonist travels into the jungle the higher the sense of impending danger gets.

“Droll thing life is”

What it is about:

It is about a man who travels down a river to bring back a rogue ivory trader who is worshiped like a god by natives in the 19th century Congolese jungle.

Why it matters:

The book still heavily resonates over 100 years after it was written and it is probably Conrad´s finest work (though not very popular during his lifetime). It is not only about a personal hellish trip in 1890s Congo but also a strong condemnation of colonialism and racism. When the protagonist gets back from Africa he cannot stand modern western society anymore with its consumerism and cynical chase for money. At the end the reader asks himself if London or the Congo is the real heart of darkness. Historically Heart of Darkness is regarded by many literature critics as one of the first examples of modernism.

Favourite Sentences:

“Droll thing life is — that mysterious arrangement of merciless logic for a futile purpose. The most you can hope from it is some knowledge of yourself — that comes too late — a crop of inextinguishable regrets.”

Storytelling elements:

The whole story is narrated in flashbacks. The narrator is unreliable and jumps back and forth in time. I am not sure why Conrad decided to tell the story in flashbacks. I guess he wanted to show what impact the protagonist´s experience in the Congo had on his later life. Maybe he did so because the story was based on his own memories. The narrator is his Alter Ego.

Some trivia:

Orson Welles himself wanted to make Heart of Darkness his first film project. The film was never made for various reasons and is nowadays ranked highly in the list of the greatest movie never made. Orson went on to make Citizen Kane instead and the rest is film history.

What others said:

„Some of the story´s power comes from its eloquent denunciation of the conceit behind colonialism and some from the harrowing thought that humanity has actually behaved like this. But its real power for me is that when I next pick it up, I know I will feel something new.“ – Tim Butcher, The Telegraph –

Conrad claimed that he witnessed most of what happens in the book himself in 1890s Congo, saying it was “experience… pushed a little (and only very little) beyond the actual facts of the case”.

This proves again that life itself writes the best (and in this case) cruelest stories…

Yes. I started my 2017-52-book-challenge in week one of January and I started with a good one: The Death of Ivan Ilyich, a Novella by Leo Tolstoy himself. It is a late work of Tolstoy and, well, not exactly an uplifting read but very deep and thoughtful.

It took me only 3 hours to read the 88 pages and I guess the more experienced readers among you could read it easily in less than 2 hours max. And you should.

Interestingly enough one of my personal favourite Akira Kurosawa movies, Ikiru from 1955, is loosely based on this book. One master influenced another. As Woody Allen said: “If you steal, steal from the best”. Kurosawa´s movie is more positive though in the end.

A reminder on our Mortality

Back to the Death of Ivan Ilyich.

What it is about:

It is a bout a man who realises only on his deathbed that he lived a meaningless life.

Why it matters:

I guess most of Tolstoy´s work matters. This novella in particular reminds us that we are all mortal and should check from time to time if our life has a meaning to avoid deep regrets and misery at the end.

Favourite Sentences:

“There also the further back he looked the more life there had been. There had been more of what was good in life and more of life itself. The two merged together. “Just as the pain went on getting worse and worse, so my life grew worse and worse,” he thought.

What others said:

„Tolstoy’s book is about many things: the tyranny of bourgeois niceties, the terrible weak spots of the human heart, the primacy and elision of death. But more than anything, I would offer, it is about the consequences of living without meaning, that is, without a true and abiding connection to one’s life“ – Psychologist Mark Freeman –

Agreed, Mark.

That´s it. Good read. Makes you think. In story terms there is very little external action, which is compensated by a deep inner thought process of the book´s protagonist.

As part of my New Year resolution I decided to read 52 books this year. One every week. Yes! You might think that sounds a bit superficial and you are right. But it will make me read. A lot.

For that reason I asked my friends to recommend me a book that absolutely has to be on such list. Could be anything. Non-fiction or fiction or even graphic novels.

The only limitation was that the books can´t be tooooo long and could be realistically read in a week (besides work). I am not the fastest reader after all. (Thanks Kay, for recommending The Count of Monte Cristo…)

The below list is what they came back with. I realised again what a diverse and well-read circle of friends I have. There might be an inspirational read for some of you, too. And if you can recommend any further readings…fire away!

OK; now I better start reading…

Books of note – as recommended by my friends

FICTION

Title

Author

Kind

Country

The Quiet American

Graham Greene

Fiction

UK

Lucky Jim

Kingsley Amis

Fiction

UK

Ravelstein

Saul Bellow

Fiction

Canada

Headhunters

Jo Nesbo

Fiction

Norway

Ulysses

James Joyce

Fiction

Ireland

Atomised

Michel Houellebecq

Fiction

France

I am pilgrim

Terry Hayes

Fiction

UK

the pillars of the earth

Ken Follett

Fiction

UK

The Waterproof Bible

Andrew Kaufman

Fiction

Canada

No Name

Wilkie Collins

Fiction

UK

One Thousand and One Nights

Div

Fiction

Div

Hector and the Search for Happiness

Francois Lelord

Fiction

France

The Martian

andy weir

Fiction

USA

The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay

Michael Chabon

Fiction

USA

Oryx and Crake

Margaret Atwood

Fiction

Canada

Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage

Haruki Murakami

Fiction

Japan

The Innocent

Ian McEwan

Fiction

UK

Dead Poets Society

Nancy H Kleinbaum

Fiction

USA

ON SEEING THE 100% PERFECT GIRL ONE BEAUTIFUL APRIL MORNING

Haruki Murakami

Fiction

Japan

The Execution of Justice

Friedrich Dürrenmatt

Fiction

Switzerland

Picture of Dorian Gray

Oscar Wilde

Fiction

Ireland

Summerhouse, later

Judith Hermann

Fiction

Germany

Wild Swans

Jung Chang

Fiction

China

Scarfolk

Richard Littler

Fiction

UK

A Heart So White

Javier Marias

Fiction

Spain

The Shadow of the Wind

Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Fiction

Spain

City of Marvels

Eduardo Garriga

Fiction

Spain

Homo Faber

Max Frisch

Fiction

Switzerland

The power of the dog

Don Winslow

Fiction

USA

Water for elephants

Sara Gruen

Fiction

Canada

A fine balance

Rohinton Mistry

Fiction

India

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Fiction

USA

Middlesex

Jeffrey Eugenides

Fiction

USA

Orlando

Virginia Woolf

Fiction

UK

Rivers of London

Ben Aaronovitch

Fiction

UK

Sonnets

William Shakespeare

Fiction

UK

Oliver Twist

Charles Dickens

Fiction

UK

Neverwhere

Neil Gaiman

Fiction

UK

The White Tiger

Aravind Adiga

Fiction

India

The Kite Runner

Khaled Hosseini

Fiction

Afghanistan

Anna karenina

Leo Tolstoy

Fiction

Russia

War and Peace

Leo Tolstoy

Fiction

Russia

No one Belongs Here More Than You

Miranda July

Fiction

USA

Care of Wooden Floors

Will Wiles

Fiction

UK

Celestine Prophecy

James Redfield

Fiction

USA

Silk

Alessandro Baricco

Fiction

Italy

Lennon is dead

Alexander Osang

Fiction

Germany

When the lion feeds

Wilbur Smith

Fiction

South Africa

The alchemist

Paulo Coelho

Fiction

Brazil

Who Will Run the Frog Hospital

Lorrie Moore

Fiction

USA

A Little Life

Hanya Yanagihara

Fiction

USA

Right Ho, Jeeves

P. G. Wodehouse

Fiction

UK

Stories we could tell

Tony Parsons

Fiction

UK

Dark Matter

Juli Zeh

Fiction

Germany

Crime and Punishment

Fyodor Dostoyevsky

Fiction

Russia

Heart of Darkness

Joseph Conrad

Fiction

UK

Ham on rye

Charles Bukowski

Fiction

USA

a prayer for Owen meany

John Irving

Fiction

USA

My cousin Rachel

Daphne Du Maurier

Fiction

UK

The 100 year old man climbed out of a window and disappeared

Jonas Jonasson

Fiction

Sweden

The Flatey Enigma

Viktor Arnar Ingolfsson

Fiction

Iceland

Bamboo Road

Ann Bennett

Fiction

UK

Half of a Yellow Sun

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Fiction

Nigeria

The Blizzard

Vladimir Georgievich Sorokin

Fiction

Russia

The Discreet Hero

Mario Vargas-Llosa

Fiction

Peru

Distant Star

Roberto Bolano

Fiction

Chile

The time, the time

Martin Suter

Fiction

Switzerland

Friday Night Lights

Buzz Bissinger

Fiction

USA

PS, I Love You

Cecelia Ahern

Fiction

Ireland

May We Be Forgiven

A. M. Homes

Fiction

USA

The Count of Monte Cristo

Alexander Dumas

Fiction

France

Capital

john lanchester

Fiction

UK

Last Night in Twisted River

John Irving

Fiction

USA

Tinker, tailor, soldier, spy

John Le Carre

Fiction

UK

The strange case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr Hyde

Robert Louis Stevenson

Fiction

UK

Anthem

Ayn Rand

Fiction

USA

The Yellow Wallpaper

Charlotte Perkins Gilman

Fiction

USA

The overcoat

Nikolai Gogol

Fiction

Russia

The 39 steps

John Buchan

Fiction

UK

Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

Hunter S. Thompson

Fiction

USA

The Sun also rises

Ernest Hemingway

Fiction

USA

Journey to the end of the night

Louis-Ferdinand Celine

Fiction

France

Peter and Mary go fishing

Nat Darke

Fiction

East-Germany

NON-FICTION

Becoming Animal

David Abram

Non-Fiction

USA

Destiny Disrupted

Tamim Ansary

Non-Fiction

Afghanistan

Good Strategy Bad Strategy

Richard Rumelt

Non-Fiction

USA

Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life’s Most Important Skill

Matthieu Ricard

Non-Fiction

France

EGO

Frank Schirrmacher

Non-Fiction

Germany

Debt: The First 5,000 Years

David Graeber

Non-Fiction

USA

Pretty Boy

Roy Shaw

Non-Fiction

UK

Mr Nice

Howard Marks

Non-Fiction

UK

Little Book of Hygge

Meik Wiking

Non-Fiction

Danmark

Design your life

Bill Burnett

Non-Fiction

USA

Bossypants

Tina Fey

Non-Fiction

USA

Me talk pretty one day

David Sedaris

Non-Fiction

USA

Shoe Dog

Phil Knight

Non-Fiction

USA

Sailing Alone Around the World

Joshua Slocum

Non-Fiction

Canada

Sextant

David Barrie

Non-Fiction

UK

When Genius Failed

Roger Lowenstein

Non-Fiction

USA

The Big Short

Michael Lewis

Non-Fiction

USA

Elon Musk: How the Billionaire CEO of SpaceX and Tesla is Shaping our Future

I recently gave a workshop for senior executives about „Storytelling for leaders“. Senior managers as they are, do not have a lot of time. So the very first thing they wanted to know was what the most important story tool for them would be.

Of course there is no such thing as the most important story tool. However, knowing that leaders are often in negotiation or sales talks, I said that one of the most important leadership stories is the “I-know-what-you are-thinking story”.

This is basically a story that repeats the other person`s concerns or objections.

Why? When you tell this story, it makes people wonder if you are reading their minds and most often they appreciate it. Also if you name their objections first before they do, you disarm them. You basically steal their biggest argument against your standpoint and defuse their concerns without direct confrontation.

This story disarms and de-escalates

If you have done your homework on the group or person you wish to influence it is relatively easy to identify their potential objections to your message. E.g.: In my undergrad years I had this business mathematics lecturer and when he first came in he said: “I am a mathematician and this will be the most boring hour of your entire life.” And he was right, that is exactly what every student room in the room was thinking. But then he went on and defied expectations by telling highly silly and entertaining stories about the world of mathematics. People loved it. He read our minds, detected our major fear – “this is going to be boring” – and removed that fear with a fun story.

So next time you face an unpleasant conversation or sales pitch, think of your counterparts objections beforehand and then give him the I-know-what-you are-thinking story before you even start a difficult discussion. It will not only take the heat of the conversation but also steal your counterpart her or his biggest argumentative weapon.

Before we look at what storytelling was first used for, let´s take a look what a story actually is: In its core, a story is a narrative account of an event or events – true or fictional. The difference between giving an example and telling a story is the addition of emotional content and added sensory details in the telling.

Knowledge management in caves

Anybody have a good guess how old storytelling actually is!? Yes, stories and myths are actually as old as mankind. Round about 27.000 years old. The first signs of narratives were cave paintings.

It is also interesting to see what stories were first used for. In modern business terms we would say for a) Knowledge management and b) Corporate Culture.

Yes, really!

Of T-Rexs and warriors

Think about it; in the absence of written words and other information media, stories worked as a means for transferring knowledge throughout the tribes; and warnings. They weren´t any signposts saying “Danger, you´re entering the T-Rex area”. No; people of the tribe would tell the legend of the hero hunter who was slaughtered behind the rock formations by a giant T-Rex so that other people of their tribe wouldn´t hunt there.

Storytelling in the stone ages also helped the first human tribes to define themselves through myths. These stories helped shape the identity of the tribe, gave it values and boundaries, and helped establish its reputation among rivalling tribes. Improving the corporate culture as a modern time management consultant would say.

Oral tradition

It is called the oral tradition. In the absence of modern media products it needed storytellers to orally transport those messages over geographic distances and generations.